The Grace of God

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, instructing us to deny godlessness and worldly lusts and to live in a sensible, righteous, and godly way in the present age,
(Titus 2:11-12)

Meditation

Jesus came the first time to provide a way for us to be saved from our sins. Before surrendering to Christ, our lives are filled with sin that eventually leads us straight to hell. You may think you’re not that bad. Yeah, you might tell a lie now and then but you’re not hurting anyone. You have lusted after a co-worker, but you never acted on your desires. You might have shoplifted when you were a kid but no one else even knows about it and it was a big store that could afford it. The problem is, you may think whatever you’ve done is secret, but God knows. He knows everything we’ve ever done. Even if all we ever do is tell a few lies, that’s enough to separate us from God forever. Being separated from God means an eternity in hell.
We are exposed, daily, to all the wicked delights the world has to offer. In our own strength, we are usually unable to resist. Before we’re saved, we wallow in our sinfulness. We convince ourselves we are accountable to no one, especially an unseen god. However, even though we say we don’t believe in God, he still loves us. So much so that he gave us his Son. Not to lord over us and force us to submit to him, but to show us how much he loves us. Jesus came to set us free from all our sins. The question is why? That question has been asked for centuries. Why would an all-powerful, all knowing, and all present God want to save such stiff-necked, rebellious people like us? We certainly don’t deserve it. We can do nothing to earn it.
It could be because God’s whole essence is love. He loves us so much he doesn’t want us to continue to be driven by the lusts of our own selfishness. He wants to pluck us out of the muck and mire we live in so that we can be called his children and we can call him Father. We cannot be called his children without the shed blood of Jesus. That’s what washes us clean. We are saved from our self-imposed destruction when we call on the name of Jesus who is the grace of God. It’s your choice. You can choose to remain in your sin or you can choose life. Life eternal and more fantastic and wonderful than we can ever imagine. I hope and pray that whoever reads these words has already or will soon choose life. If you have already, you know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t made a decision for Christ, there’s no time like the present.




Prayer Time

Father God, you are the greatest and mightiest and yet, from the foundation of all creation, your plan was to save us. Each and every one of us has value in your eyes, from the richest prince to the poorest pauper. Such value that you put on flesh and became one of us. Jesus didn’t come to walk around and just be an enlightened teacher and a good example. He came to suffer and die, paying the penalty for our sins. How can we thank him enough? Is there a special phrase that can adequately express our gratitude? How do we wrap our minds around the magnitude of the grace you have shown us? Help us, Lord, to completely rid ourselves of the wickedness that dwells in our hearts. Please, give us a passion like Jesus to take the message of your immeasurable, inexplicable, undeniable, all-encompassing love to a world that is seeking only material wealth and pleasure. Help us to always be Christ-like examples to this sinful world we live in. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen!

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